goenka says there are like 4 steps to full enlightenment. he talks about maximum of 7 lifes to the second stage of enlightenment after you have reached the first.

Goenka-ji is correct. The Buddha taught that once a being has become a Sotapanna he will reach full enlightenment in no more than 7 more lifetimes. To become a Sotapanna is not an easy task - and we have all being wandering in Samsara through uncountable aeons without reaching this first level of enlightenment.

---The trouble is that you think you have time------Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe------It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---

Enlightenment is the process of many wrong views changing to right views. In truth there are only wrong thoughts and right thoughts, with one bringing suffering and the other bringing peace. The Theravada schools subscribe to 4 stages, the Mahayana to 10, Zen to many satoris (this is closest to how it works). The Buddha experienced and taught of the 4 stages, and if it is the Buddha's experience alone that one subscribes to then they may know these 4 stages by the fetters which are unbound at each.

villkorkarma wrote:But Goenkaji says that its 7 max to 2 level then 2 i think to level 3 then maybe one more but not on earth but in a high bramic plane...

Can you please give a link to where he says this? With respect, I think your memory is faulty.

with mettaChris

---The trouble is that you think you have time------Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe------It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---

I am on the path, however not yet advanced. Any opinions or insights I share are meant entirely for discussion purposes and in cases where people might find them beneficial in whatever way. Since I am not advanced on the Path, I cannot guarantee that what I say will always necessarily be 100% true or in line with the Dhamma. However, having had an extremely interesting life with a wide variety of different (many of them deep) experiences, I hope that anything I share will be of use, provide food for thought, and inspire interesting and beneficial discussions.

For Sotapanna it is 7 more lives for Nibbanafor Sakadagami it is 1 more life in kamabhumi for Nibbanafor Anagami no more births in kamabhumi but in Bramhanic plane only for nibbanaFor Arhat - a liberated being.

This is what Goenkaji also states.

But more important than knowing this is to reach any of these states.Metta

Association with people of integrity is a factor for stream-entry.Listening to the true Dhamma is a factor for stream-entry.Appropriate attention (contemplation - yonisomanasikara) is a factor for stream-entry.Practice in accordance with the Dhamma (satipatthana, 8 fold path) is a factor for stream-entry.— SN 55.5